millerd

[CallumMac]

Thanks for the info, Callum - fascinating to see how habits and habitat differs between northern and southern populations.

No worries Dave. It's amazing to see these variations. I'm just embarking on a 6 week stint chasing Speckled Woods up and down the country for work - I did the same last year and it was truly astonishing to see the scale of the differences in behaviour and even physical appearance between populations in the south of England and the north of Scotland.

In other news, those are some gorgeous shots of the Chalkhills - well done. I'm hoping they'll still be going at Martin Down when I come down to the Salisbury area for Specklies in a month's time, but with the year being so early so far I suppose there are no guarantees!

[millerd]

Cheers, Goldie - I'm glad there have been plenty of Chalkhills in Kent as well.

Thanks, Wurzel. Those SWF were very easy to approach. However, at some point in the morning something flicks their internal switch and they all go off chasing each other up and down the tracks.

Cheers, David. There are plenty of Holly Blues on my local patch at the moment, but the heat keeps them firmly closed up and flying in the shade.

Many thanks, Pauline - I have been lucky with finding some less usual bit of behaviour lately. That Painted Lady following immediately on the surprise of an Emperor sighting was a great bonus.

Some more familiar ones coming up, Buggy!

Thanks, Callum - you should be in luck with Chalkhills at Martin Down, plus hopefully quite a few other things.

12th July (part two): Denbies. As expected, Chalkhills were the predominant species here, with numbers still building.

One of the Chalkhills was ab. suavis, will orange spots next to the black ones along the hindwing borders.

There were also some nice fresh Common Blues and Brown Argus, some of which were very small indeed.

This CB female was absolutely tiny.

The Marbled Whites were really fading now and fluttering weakly like bits of tissue paper. There were a handful of Small Heath - all were small and were distinctly sandy in colour, rather than grey: changing to blend in better with the straw-coloured landscape?

We found a single female DGF well down in the grass, and Bugboy watched it lay at least one egg on the leaf litter. With sharper eyes than mine, he was able to retrieve the relevant piece of dead grass and I took a shot or two of the egg.

Another great day out.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Lovely set of Chalkhills Dave I too have noticed some rally small Blues around recently, some the other day were about half the size of the Chalkhills

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

That shot of the egg came out really well dave

[ernie f]

Some lovely crisp Chalkhill images Dave.

[David M]

Well done with the Chalkhills, Dave. I'm expecting an explosion of these in the next fortnight or so so I suspect we'll see many more similar reports. That said, unless it rains soon the resultant larvae are going to have a hard time. Here's hoping for a heavy thunderstorm or three otherwise LHPs are going to wither on the vine.

[millerd]

Cheers, Wurzel. All the Chalkhills I've seen so far (and there were hundreds up at Aston Rowant today) are normal-sized except for one or two females, and that might be what you'd expect. I'm now awaiting the first Adonis with interest...

Yes, not a bad photo in the end, Buggy, though it has been mildly Photoscaped I have to admit. I'm aquiring quite an egg collection one way or another.

Cheers, Ernie - I can't resist taking shots of Chalkhills. They are all subtly different in shade and patterning and you can quite see why the Victorians amassed vast collections of them. I think they would have enjoyed digital photography!

Thanks, David - yes the horseshoe vetch is pretty shrivelled in lots of places, though not too bad yet at Aston Rowant.

Time to return to my local patch. On Friday 13th July I went out and saw such a lot of butterflies and so much variety that on Saturday 14th I resolved to walk my usual route and actually count what I saw as best I could. I picked a good day - at the end of two hours, I had seen 288 butterflies of eighteen different species (which I think has to be a record for a local walk). There were even one or two absentees which could have put in an appearance but didn't. It was largely sunny, with a high of 29 degrees.

For those who like stats, here is the species list in order of abundance:

Small White - 53
Gatekeeper - 32
Meadow Brown - 30
Common Blue - 30
Brown Argus - 27
Holly Blue - 27
Large White - 23
Green-veined White - 19
Peacock - 12
Speckled Wood - 9
Comma - 8
Essex Skipper - 7
Small Heath - 4
Red Admiral - 2
Painted Lady - 2
Small Skipper - 1
Small Copper - 1
Purple Hairstreak - 1

Sunday 15th was an even hotter day, and even though I went out again, it wasn't for long - though I did succeed in getting a few shots of the Small Copper seen the day before.

For those who prefer the pictures, here is a selection from all three days.

Finally, an amazing bit of camouflage...

Actually, looking back at everything above, that Painted Lady is also pretty well camouflaged with its wings closed against a background of dried grass. It was a splendid fresh specimen too.

Dave

[David M]

That's quite some tally, Dave. Whenever you can reach high teens in Britain at a single site, it's a good sign.

The next week or two will provide the best opportunities for species range, with both Whites and the garden vanessids all increasing in numbers.

[trevor]

Your local patch is a bit of a Butterfly factory, churning them out one after the other !.
Looking forward to your Wood Whites, you ventured further than I did. I stopped off in the middle
of a long journey and was getting peckish.
Good luck with the Scotch Argus.

Trevor.

[Wurzel]

Fantastic selection of species and shots Dave any 20+day is a cracker The comments loaded before the images so I thought at first you were referring to the came of the Painted Lady underside which is pretty good, but when the Silver-Y image loaded the PLs seemed a feeble by comparison

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Cheers, David. It was a pretty good tally, though none of the species are that unusual. I'd seen a Brimstone the previous day, too, which would have made 19.

Cheers, Trevor - the odd thing is it's not in any way an exceptional piece of countryside. There's just a bit of a mix, and one area in particular benefits from being mostly left alone. This will almost certainly change when Heathrow expands unfortunately. Wood Whites coming up! A double dose in fact as I went down to Chiddingfold twice this last week.

Thank you, Wurzel! I saw the Silver-Y go to ground right in front of me, and it just vanished. It took a while to spot it...

Monday 16th July: Chiddingfold again, this time to see how the second brood Wood Whites were doing. Very well indeed was the answer - there were dozens, both along the rides and in the cleared meadow area near the Triangle. I spent most of my time in this area in fact, as that's where most of the other species were to be found: SWF, Large and Small Skippers, Large, Small and GV Whites, Brimstones, Peacocks, Gatekeepers, Ringlets and Meadow Browns. Aside from the Wood Whites, the most memorable sighting was that of a valesina Silver-Washed Fritillary. Unfortunately, it was nectaring in only semi-shade, and the day was very warm, so aside from one or two clear glimpses when it changed flowers, I didn't see a great deal of the dark upperside. Unmistakeable, though and a first for me. I did get a few underside shots though.

Some ordinary ones for comparison.

There were lots of new Brimstones, and though the female is partly obscured, I did find this pair (one of each sex) on the same flower.

Before the Wood White section of the post, here are a few of the other species seen.

Wood Whites were the main event, and amongst the multitude were quite a few indulging in their curious courtship ritual.

Another good day. It always seems strange to see Chiddingfold bereft of purple people and the strange aromas that come with those magical days around midsummer, but there's plenty to make up for it at this time of year. Worth another visit later in the week!

Dave

[trevor]

I agree that the second brood Wood Whites are plentiful.
When I found about a dozen for my short visit, I didn't bother to venture further.
I also agree that the place seemed deathly quiet after all ' the purple people ' had gone.

Going by your images, Dave, you had a great time.
Trevor.

PS. Shame about the slippery Valesina, I've only ever seen one.

[Wurzel]

Great stuff Dave Two things I've not seen this year - Wood Whites and Valesina Whilst the topside is what most people want I reckon the underside is just as beautiful

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

I love those images of the Wood Whites, Dave. How did you capture those? Do you have a 'burst' setting?

[millerd]

Thank you everyone - Wood Whites are a fascinating species to observe, with behaviour peculiar to them - helped by being easy to approach closely. And yes, David, I do use the "burst" mode to get those open wings, but should have remembered I need to set it to take at 1/1000 sec or faster to properly "freeze" the wing flap. Unfortunately it was quite dark down in the foliage, and 1/400 was the best compromise - hence the blurred wingtips. I can't say I was dissatisfied, though!

Tuesday 17th July was almost a day off from the butterflies - but not quite. I'd arranged to have a walk on the Chilterns with an old school friend, and we took in both Ivinghoe Beacon and Dunstable Downs (driving between the two!).

At Ivinghoe I did notice a scattering of Chalkhills being blown along on the breeze, plus a few skippers and browns, and a territorial Red Admiral landed on my chest for a second or two as if to remind me not to ignore all things lepidopterous. I also did manage a shot of a pair of Chalkhills.

Over at Dunstable Downs, the main butterfly event was a docile female Dark Green Fritillary, which was sitting in the grass shivering. It happily crawled onto my hand and basked for a while before flying off apparently in good health. I know butterflies do shiver to warm up, but it wasn't exactly a cold day. A bit of a mystery but it did impress my companion as she had never seen one before.

The uncharacteristic docility of the butterfly allowed fo some less usual close-ups.

After all the walking, refreshment at the visitor centre was a must and during tea and cake we were visited by a very tame rook.

Dave

[Wurzel]

I 'need' on of those for my 'in the hand' collection Dave I suppose it must have been a shock to the system to have a sudden drop in temperature b even a few degrees after this seemingly endless heatwave

Have a goodun

Wuzel

[Goldie M]

Love the shot of the Dark Green Frit Dave, it's one I went looking for at home and didn't find, you don't usually get them so docile sitting on your fingers Goldie

[David M]

Fabulous close encounter with the female DGF, Dave. That's not something you see very often, especially in warm weather.

[millerd]

Thank you everyone! Yes, it was a bit unusual. Looking at the DGF now I see that it looks really thin, and despite its lack of tears and other damage it may have been more towards the end of its life than it looks. Maybe suffering from a lack of moisture, though it made no attempt to suck any up from my hand. I was very pleased with those close-ups.

Wednesday 18th July. I had arranged to meet Bugboy down at Bookham again, prior to another trip down to Chiddingfold. I arrived quite early and spent an hour or so watching a series of Purple Hairstreaks down on the lower vegetation or in some cases right down in the grass. Unfortunately, now we are well into their season, they are starting to get worn, but a few hints of purple are visible.

There was a bit of dew down there, and Buggy suggested later that they are almost certainly seeking out moisture as there is little to be had elsewhere. At one point I was aware that I was being watched...

There were a few Common Blues flying in Banks Meadow (and one right in the heart of the wood too), plenty of SWF and lots of Gatekeepers.

After meeting up with Bugboy, it clouded over and there were even a dozen or so drops of rain (I'd almost forgotton what that is...), but before setting off down the A3 he pointed out some Purple Hairstreak eggs he'd spotted earlier.

Next stop, Chiddingfold (again!).

Dave

[ernie f]

I'm a bit late in congrats but I have just seen the pic of the DGF on your hand. Recalling one I saw earlier in their flight period this year and the way it was bombing back and forth almost non-stop I am amazed that this one did not mind stopping on you for awhile. As they get older, they get tired I suppose, especially under this heat.